Biodiversity and medicine News

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Santa Marta's traditional medicine doctors Mauricio Martínez, Elicia Martínez and Viviana Montero stand among a plot of land containing curative plants.

The Panamanian shamans working to save their ancestral medicinal plants

Adam D. Williams 22 Oct 2024
Two young gorillas play in Gabon. Experts say humans' and gorillas' shared used of medicinal plants highlights the interconnectedness between humans and other apes. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay.

Indigenous knowledge proves key in a study of plants gorillas use to self-medicate

Charles Mpaka 3 Oct 2024
argeting demand for rhino horn-based products must complement efforts to protect rhinos from poaching. Image by Geranimo via Unsplash.

As a medicine, study finds rhino horn useless — and potentially toxic

Juliette Portala 3 Sep 2024
From left: Florinda Zurdo, Silvia Salina and Patricia Mendoza stand in a plot of land near ASASTRAN’s site in Lajero where traditional medicine is cultivated.

Indigenous midwives in Panama strive to preserve traditional medicine for maternal health

Adam D. Williams 25 Jul 2024
Juanita Torremocha harvests a medicinal herb in her backyard, located near Mount Bandilaan National Park at the heart of Siquijor Island.

Traditional healers in Philippines keep their ‘forest pharmacy’ standing

Keith Anthony S. Fabro 9 Feb 2024
Since 2014, Nerea Turreira-Garcia and Dimitris Argyriou have worked with Indigenous communities in Cambodia's Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary to identify species of flora and their uses to the communities. Image by Nerea Turreira-Garcia and Dimitris Argyriou.

‘Immense body of knowledge’ at stake in Cambodia’s Prey Lang as deforestation soars

Gerald Flynn 13 Dec 2023
Chörtens right outside the walled city of Lo Manthang. Image by Jean-Marie Hullot via Flickr (CC BY 2.0 Deed).

Traditional healers push for recognition and licensing of age-old Himalayan practice

Sonam Lama Hyolmo 5 Dec 2023
Long-tailed macaques roam free across the Angkor Wat temple complex

Alleged macaque-smuggling ring exposed as U.S. indicts Cambodian officials

Gerald Flynn 18 Nov 2022

Protecting Brazil’s Amazon could be a bargain — if the government were willing to pay

Lais Modelli 4 Jul 2022
Yadi, a member of the Menapo House

Saving medicinal plants a village cause in Indonesia

Warief Djajanto Basorie, Yitno Suprapto 26 May 2022
Mark Plotkin with an Embera shaman in the Darien on the Colombia-Panama. Photo credit: Amazon Conservation Team

Ethnobotanist Mark Plotkin: Indigenous knowledge serves as a ‘connective tissue’ between nature and human well-being

Rhett A. Butler 31 Jan 2022

Indonesian research center for medicinal plants displaces incense harvesters

Barita News Lumbanbatu 13 Jan 2022
Melanesia tropical fruits

Between land and sea: Agrobiodiversity holds key to health for Melanesian tribes

Carolyn Cowan 6 Dec 2021
Medicinal garden

Study confirms anti-inflammatory property of traditional Samoan remedy

Stephanie Melchor 19 Nov 2021
Endangered black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes). Image courtesy of Kimberly Fraser/USFWS.

Black-footed ferrets riding out COVID-19 with a vaccine and a lot of TLC

Rachel Fritts 27 Sep 2021

Not just for humans — scientists turn to vaccines to save endangered species

Gloria Dickie 20 Aug 2021

Climate change threatens to squeeze out Indonesia’s medicinal plants

Basten Gokkon 18 Aug 2021

Traditional healers are preserving their knowledge, and with it, the biodiversity of Brazil’s savanna

Sarah Sax 12 Mar 2021

An economic case for competing in the XPRIZE Rainforest contest (commentary)

Jonah Wittkamper 1 Mar 2021
Rainbow over the Colombian Amazon. Photo © Wade Davis

Colombia, ethnobotany, and America’s decline: An interview with Wade Davis

Rhett A. Butler 21 Oct 2020

A Philippine tribe’s plant-based medical tradition gets its moment

Bong S. Sarmiento 2 Oct 2020

Favoring ayahuasca over hospitals, Indigenous Kokama see COVID-19 deaths drop in the Amazon

Maria Fernanda Ribeiro 17 Aug 2020

Indigenous Ashaninka launch fundraiser to help Amazon neighbors amid pandemic

Maria Fernanda Ribeiro 29 Jul 2020

The sponge with the secret recipe: A cancer-fighting chemical

Julia John 8 Jul 2020

Brazilian indigenous chiefs act to halt illegal logging in historical landmark area

Spensy Pimentel 16 Apr 2020

Amazonian leader takes Indigenous pepper to the Brazilian market and teaches how to live a good life

Débora Menezes 13 Apr 2020

Shamans in the city: Brazil clinic offers traditional Amazonian treatments

Débora Menezes 9 Apr 2020
Gold and sand mining near Mandor, West Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. Photo by Rhett A. Butler.

The unrecognized cost of Indonesia’s fires (commentary)

Rhett A. Butler 7 Oct 2019

Study reveals a fragile web of knowledge linking plants to people

Liz Kimbrough 4 Jun 2019

Conservation groups concerned as WHO recognizes traditional Chinese medicine

Mongabay.com 28 May 2019

Reliance on natural healing cultivates respect for nature in Indonesian village

Wahyu Chandra 9 Jan 2018

Orangutans process plants into medicine, study finds

Morgan Erickson-Davis 4 Dec 2017

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